Member Avatar for ohonlee

I am not able to get my desktop and laptop (using wireless) to connect to the internet simultaneously. Whichever one I connect to the router first gets the connection.
If I connect directly from my laptop, everything is OK. Once I go wireless, the internet access is lost.

I log into the router, and it knows about both machines, has the right IP address and I can PING from both machines to the router. I can't find any docs on this problem.

Any ideas?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by zeroth

Dani AI

Generated

Short primer that builds on ’s report and ’s DHCP hint.

Because the router’s client list shows both machines, and both can reach the router, this points to a problem on the router’s WAN/NAT side or a DHCP/IP conflict rather than a basic wireless association failure. Try these focused checks in order to isolate and fix the fault.

  1. Verify each PC’s network settings
  • On Windows run ipconfig /all (or ifconfig / ip addr on Unix) and confirm each device has a unique IP, the correct subnet mask, and the router’s IP as the default gateway.
  • Run arp -a to spot duplicate IP/MAC pairs. If two devices share an IP, change one to a free address or enable DHCP.
  1. Separate DNS from routing issues
  • From each machine try ping 8.8.8.8. If that works but ping www.google.com fails, it’s DNS. If neither works, routing/NAT is the problem.
  1. Check the router’s WAN behaviour
  • Log into the Netgear UI and watch the WAN/Internet status while you connect the second client. If the router’s WAN IP drops or changes when the other client connects, the ISP or the modem may be binding to a single MAC address. If so, use the router’s MAC clone feature or power-cycle the modem after changing the attached device.
  1. Common causes and fixes
  • Static IP collision: switch to DHCP or pick non-overlapping static addresses.
  • ISP MAC binding: use MAC clone or contact ISP.
  • Router accidentally in Bridge/AP mode: ensure it’s in router/NAT mode so multiple LAN clients share the WAN.
  • Firmware bug: update the router’s firmware and reboot.

Quick checklist (do these in order): confirm unique LAN IPs, ping external IP from both clients, watch router WAN status when devices connect, enable MAC clone if ISP locks MAC, update firmware. These steps will narrow the root cause and point to the proper fix.

Member Avatar for zeroth

Are you using dhcp to assign an ip number or are you using static IPs. If the latter, the two computers should not have the same number...

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